Quick Tips

3.Knowing when you ovulate can help you time sex for your most fertile days

Real Mom Solutions

It can be hard to navigate all the products on the market aimed at helping you conceive. Could OPKs be right for you? See what the ladies of CafeMom have to say.

Some Say OPKs Are Worth It

smileyashmommy

I tried just about every OPK out there. They do work if you are ovulating. My all time favorites (and the ones I used to get pregnant this time) are the Clearblue digital OPKs. They are pricey but so worth it! You can buy them cheaper on Amazon.com.

leandrat

I hate digital tests. They never picked up my surge even though it was confirmed with blood tests and thermal shifts. I'll stick to my 18-cent Wondfo OPK. They always catch my surge.

mommymary6507

YES! I highly recommend them. I used them my first try and got pregnant. I am almost certain I wouldn't be pregnant now if it weren't for the OPKs!

mommanikki46536

I used OPKs for one cycle and am now almost six weeks pregnant. Mine were from Dollar Tree.

Others Say OPKs Aren't Necessary

Namaste09

Save your money and just have sex very often. Fifty dollars is way too much to spend on a test when you can just have sex and hope.

GwenMB

I would suggest getting the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility", it explains a lot about our fertility, and how ovulation works, and how to get pregnant the fastest (or avoid it if that's what you want). Basically, you just track your cervical mucus and basal body temp. Your cervical mucus lets you know that you are fertile, so you should be having sex, and your temp spikes to let you know that you did ovulate. You can also use ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) to let you know when you are fertile --you don't need them, but they are useful as you get used to what fertile cervical mucus looks like and what your body does as ovulation approaches. You just need to be careful to have sex before the OPK is positive since you usually ovulate within 12-36 hours of the positive. Cervical mucus usually gives you a longer heads up that you're going to ovulate.

How -- and Why -- Does an OPK Work?

kyleighsmama07

They work as long as you are ovulating. Just remember the test line has to be AS dark as, or darker than the control line. Anything else isn't positive.

Kiki2009

OPKs are very useful in timing sex with ovulation. They are ovulation predictor kits which work just like a home pregnancy test. You pee on them and it detects the surge of LH (Luteinizing Hormone) which happens 12-36 hours before ovulation. A positive OPK will show the test line as dark as or darker than the control line. I would recommend not spending a lot on them. Go online to Amazon.com and search Wondfo (the brand). I got 40 OPKs and 10 home pregnancy tests for $14.

kelly617

About a week after your period you should start using an OPK (ovulation predictor kit). It looks like a home pregnancy test and you use it the same way. Once or twice a day you pee on it and wait for the lines to show up. Most of the time the OPK will always have 2 lines, the control line will be dark and your test line will vary...sometimes very faint, almost not there, and when its considered positive it will be as dark or darker than the control line. That means that you should ovulate within 12-36 hours...so it's your best window to get pregnant. As soon as I started using OPKs, I realized I was ovulating closer to Day 20 rather than Day 14 like all the books tell you, so I was missing my fertile window by almost a week!

GwenMB

Ovulation tests can be very helpful, especially if you are irregular. They let you know that you are fertile and should be ovulating soon. Of course, your cervical mucus (CM) can tell you that as well, but the ovulation tests (also called ovulation predictor kits or OPKs) can be helpful if your CM is confusing or you aren't used to checking it.

Fertility Monitors Can Be a Good Alternative

ttcbabylovepred

I have been using a fertility monitor for a month and I like the fact it pinpoints ovulation even more than OPKs do.

maybebaby83

What got me pregnant was the Clearblue Fertility Monitor... AMAZING! I was using OPKs and wasn't getting pregnant, but got pregnant my first month using the monitor!

crossermom

I love my Clearblue Fertility Monitor. It shows you the 3-5 most fertile days of the month. Plus it remembers the data from previous months to help pinpoint ovulation more closely.